Businesses using Facebook as a means to connect with larger audience

Alan Ebright and Chad Cox recognized that people like to take photos and post them to their Facebook pages, and they wanted to come up with a way to turn that fascination into a business.

So the business partners, who go to the same church and once worked for the same employer, came up with a way to help businesses generate activity on their own Facebook pages.

They call their company Ten Thousand Fans LLC.

The company rents webcams and touch-screen devices to businesses, who then make the devices available to customers. Customers take pictures of themselves in the store, and the pictures post to their own Facebook profiles and appear to their Facebook friends. The pictures also show up on the business’s Facebook page, creating a record of who has been there.

Ebright says the pictures essentially are a customer endorsement that helps a business build its brand.

“Businesses can let people know they are the place to be,” Ebright says.

The company’s concept is gaining popularity since it launched earlier this year at Mead’s Corner, a downtown coffeehouse.

To start, Ten Thousand Fans has targeted popular hangouts, such as coffeehouses and bowling alleys. But salons, restaurants and retail stores also are possible targets as the business grows.

Fun and interactive marketing

Ten Thousand Fans is just one of many examples of businesses promoting themselves and connecting with customers on Facebook.

Marketers say Facebook is becoming an essential tool for businesses to reach customers.

“Facebook provides a different platform than a corporate website does. It allows businesses to be more authentic,” says Steve Randa, managing partner at advertising firm Jajo Inc. “It allows their customers to actually participate and engage with the brand.”

Companies that use Facebook as a marketing tool say they’re seeing results.

Some use it as a way to advertise promotions or feature products or services, while others use it to interact with customers or post pictures of ongoing projects.

Dave Coyle, owner of In the Bag Cleaners, started using Facebook for businesses purposes about a year ago, and he says he is glad he did.

About 1,000 people have “liked” In the Bag’s Facebook page, which causes the company’s updates to flow to those people’s Facebook pages.

“We have really used (Facebook) as a more fun, interactive way to engage with our customers,” Coyle says.

In the Bag, he says, uses Facebook to promote specials, solicit feedback and share non-business-related items such as favorite recipes.

“I definitely think it is a lot of added value,” Coyle says. “It gives you the ability to interact with customers. It just creates another circle.”

Facebook as a business tool
Here’s some ways businesses are using Facebook to grow:
Reaching larger audiences and new demographics.
Promoting products or services.
Interacting with customers.
Disseminating information quickly.